This Pitch Sold $57.9 Million (The IDK Pitch)

        **Core Topic:** The "Test Launch" pitch structure—a counterintuitive positioning strategy that leverages uncertainty ("I don't know if this will work") to capture attention, build credibility, and generate sales even when you're brand new with no reputation.

**Main Speaking Points:**

1. **Positioning Is Everything** — If your market has heard it before, they discount it. Every pitch in the market says "this will work." When you say "I don't know if this will work," you instantly have their attention—and attention is half the battle.

2. **The Core Psychological Insight** — People are more likely to believe that if something has a smaller chance of working, the result will be better than anything else IF it does work. In one sentence, you've positioned yourself above the competition, and every claim you make thereafter is far more believable.

3. **The Pitch Structure:**
   - **Part 1 (Uncertainty + Upside):** "I don't know if this will work or not. On the off chance it does, I think you'll get a better result than anywhere else. If it doesn't work, you're only out [minimal downside]."
   - **Part 2 (Scarcity + Qualification):** "Because I don't know if this will work, I'm only taking a small number of test subjects who meet X, Y, and Z criteria."
   - **Part 3 (Price + Future Value):** "The cost if you're accepted is [price]. Because this is a test, you may lose all of this money and get nothing. But if it works, the price will be much, much higher in the future."

4. **Why Qualification Matters** — You want to attract people most likely to succeed with the least effort on your part. The best clients are those who would have gotten the result anyway in 6 months—you just help them get there in 2 months. Disqualification removes the people who would be too hard to work with.

5. **The "No Reputation" Version** — If you're brand new: make the offer free and limit it to one. Pitch it as "I'm 100% new to this industry, I have no reputation, no results yet—but I'm bold enough to believe I've seen something as an outsider that nobody inside the industry has noticed."

6. **It's Not a Gimmick** — When I do test launches, I genuinely don't know if a brand-new product will work. I think it will, but I haven't ironed out all the kinks yet. The best way to find out if something works is to put it in customers' hands.

7. **The Philosophy** — If this truly is what they need, does it matter if it's in a brown paper bag with no fancy packaging? Get it in their hands. Prove it helps people. Then make it fancy and sell it at a high price to the masses.

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Here's how it usually starts:

**"I don't know if this will work or not."**

And by the time it's done, I usually end up with millions of dollars in sales and very happy, satisfied clients.

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### Positioning Is Everything

In marketing, positioning is everything.

If your market has heard something before, then you saying it—the second time, the third time, the thousandth time—they discount it.

Every pitch in the market is generally: "This will work."

So when the market hears "I don't know if this will work," *bing*—you have their attention.

And attention is half the battle when it comes to making money.

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### The Pitch Structure

**Part 1: Uncertainty + Upside**

The pitch starts with: "I don't know if this will work or not."

Then it proceeds: "On the off chance that this may work, I think you'll get a better result for X than anywhere else, from anyone else. And if it doesn't work, you're only out [whatever the minimal downside is]."

Here's what's happening psychologically: People are more likely to believe that if something has a *smaller* chance of working, the result will be *better* than anything else IF it does work.

In one sentence, you've done what most people can't do in a thousand hours: you've positioned yourself above the competition. And every claim you make after that will be far more believable.

The trick with what you promise is to make it extremely attractive while making the risk of what they're out extremely minimal.

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**Part 2: Scarcity + Qualification**

The third part of the pitch goes like this:

"Because I don't know if this will work, I'm only taking on a small number of test subjects to try it out with. Specifically, I'm looking for people who meet X, Y, and Z criteria. If that's you, reply back and I'll send you more details."

What we've done here is introduce scarcity. You're only taking on a small number of test subjects. You're limiting the supply—and that automatically makes the value go up. If it's a good thing, the demand increases too.

But we're also adding a second layer of scarcity: **qualification**.

You really want to attract people who are most likely to succeed with the least amount of effort on your part.

My favorite clients are those who would have gotten the result anyway on their own in 6 months—I just help them get there in 2 months.

The qualifications aren't gimmicks. I did this pitch once where one of the qualifications was: "If you lose $225,000 from this, you still won't lose a minute of sleep at night."

The whole purpose of disqualification is to remove the audience that's going to be too hard to work with initially. You remove those who aren't perfect for it—and then your offer becomes incredibly attractive to those who *are* perfect for it.

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**Part 3: Price + Future Value**

The last part of the pitch:

"Just so you know, the cost if you're accepted is [blank]. And because this is a test, you may lose all of this money and get nothing in return. But if it does work, the price for this will be much, much, much higher in the future."

That's the end of it.

Now, you don't *have* to put the price in. I personally do because I think it works better, and I have the confidence to do it given my reputation and my audience.

They realize the risk of being a test subject—yeah, it might not work. But if it *does* work, they know they've essentially stolen the offer. They've gotten it so far below market value that it's crazy.

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### The "No Reputation" Version

You might be thinking: "Jason, I'm brand new. I have no reputation. How can I make a strategy like this work?"

Here's how: **Make your offer free and limit it to one.**

The pitch might run something like this (fictitious example):

> "I've identified an opportunity for certain dental practices. If this thing works, it could double or even triple your profitability.
>
> Now, to be clear—I don't know if this will work or not. If it does work, it may be the greatest breakthrough your practice has ever seen. If it doesn't work, here's the downside: you're only out a few minutes and a few thousand in your own costs.
>
> Because I don't know if this will work, I'm only going to work with one dental practice. To be clear, I've sent this out to every candidate in the area that I think it might work for—but I'm only taking on one client to try this out on. For free.
>
> If it does work, I plan on offering this service in the future for a $25,000 retainer plus a percentage of revenue.
>
> Another reason I'm willing to do the work for free: I'm 100% new to the industry. I have no reputation. I have no results yet. Still, I'm bold enough to believe that I've seen something as an outsider that nobody inside the industry has noticed.
>
> If you're interested and want more details, reply back and I'll give you the full scoop."

That's essentially the pitch.

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### It's Not a Gimmick

The most important thing is the structure behind it. And you should realize—it's not a gimmick.

When I do test launches, I really don't know if a brand-new product is going to work or not. I *think* it will, but I'm not sure. I don't have the customer results yet. I haven't ironed out all the kinks of the product.

But you know what? The best way to figure out if something works or not is to put it in the hands of customers and see what happens.

You might as well get paid while you do it.

As I often say to clients: If this truly is what you need to help you, does it matter if it's in a brown paper bag with no fancy packaging, glitz, and glamour? We just need to get it in their hands so they can play with it.

That's what these launches allow you to do: Get the thing you think will help the most people in the market. Actually prove that it helps people. Then you can go back, make it fancy, make it slick, make it cool—and sell it at a high price to the masses.

But before you get paid big, **get paid**.

And it starts with: "I don't really know if this will work or not."